| Nicholas
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-----DISCLAIMER----- Yasuhiro Nightow.
-----AUTHOR'S NOTES----- Lynda: **cough cough** ... **sniffle sniffle hack cough hack** I'm
not getting better, dammit. Kuroneko: Mya? Lynda: Oooh yes. Donuts. And Desert. Reviews. The analogy is clear people!
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What room was this? Ah, yes. It had to be a sitting room of some kind. Or was. The chairs and tables had been stacked up in the corners years and years ago, settling permanantly into position as the dust weighed them down. Wolfwood checked his Meta-Kard again for what must've been the hundredth time. There was a huge lack of Milly in this room. 'I'm on that damn dot, where is she?!' Wolfwood demanded angrilly, stressing more than a little. I'm not sure. his Meta-Kard confessed. Perhaps she is on a different level? 'You're right, like usual. What would I do without you?' the priest asked his Kard affectionately. All sorts of silly things. was the response. And it was true. Hell, he'd gotten into incredibly stupid situations, even with the help of his Meta-Kard and all. Of course, the reason why this was so was obvious. Vash the Stampede, Humanoid Typhoon and 60 Billion Double Dollar Man was a walking catastrophy. But really, when he thought about it, it wasn't Vash's fault they were here. It would've happened with or without the idiot; but Wolfwood couldn't help but feel the fate that radiated off the man, dragging everyone around him into it's inexorably mysterious depths. Wolfwood felt himself spiralling far too late to escape. And now he was running through a Demon infested mansion looking for a Guard that was in grave soul losing danger. With a Hangover and slowly diminishing supply of ammo. Ah, the fun never stops, eh? Wolfwood was feeling pretty neglected, information wise. So, Tongari
had a brother. This brother was either so ingenius he was mad, or so
mad he was ingenius. Not to mention over 130 years old, apparently.
And Tongari's twin. Which makes Tongari 130 years old. Tongari lost
his arm to his twin. This twin has a telepathic Winger who is a sadist
and a joke and in league with Demons. This twin has these creatures
called Vaults that eat souls and make humans Vaults themselves. This
twin wants to wipe out humanity. But Guards always come first. Even Vash was beginning to realise that fact; that rule that somehow planted itself into an Angel's system after the first few days. Wolfwood had caught that panic in the blonde's eyes and noticed the fact that the Humanoid Typhoon had turned his back on a homocidal brother to do his duty. And the horrible thing about it was that it wasn't a rule at all. It was all heart and instinct. You just don't realise this until it's too late. 'Which is why I'm stressin' now.' Wolfwood muttered unhappily, looking desperately for a staircase. And that's why you have me. What are floors to an Angel? his Meta-Kard asked him in a patient blinking. Wolfwood paused and near slapped himself in the forehead. If he wasn't having his skull drilled inside out with a jackhammer of a headache, he would've done this a long time ago. So now the question was up or down? 'Up or down?' the priest asked his Kard. It paused then blinked, Down. it supplied. With that, Wolfwood very gently drifted through the floor and floated comfortably downwards, something blindingly white shining above his head. Passing through floorboards were no problem. It was doing it in style where the real skill lies. Wolfwood casually touched down on the lower floor, the shining above his head fading as he did so. Taking a cursory glance around the room, the priest came to the haphazardous conclusion that this was a library. Taking a longer look around, Wolfwood confirmed his guess. Yes, this had to be a library. There was quite a bit of bookiness here... And something else, lurking behind the giant shelves. 'Okay, I know you're here. Can we get this over with?' Wolfwood asked the room in general, sighing in resignation and dropping the Punisher into waiting hands. A shadow detatched itself from a shelf and stepped into the priest's vision. 'Angel.' it greeted coldly. 'I'm gettin' kinda sick of being called that.' Wolfwood admitted with more than a little exasperation. The Angel part wasn't so bad... It was the tone that rendered the word an insult that irked him. 'So, Demon, let me guess. You are going to try to kill me. Or at least attempt to maim me, am I right?' he asked as an after thought, not bothering to sit through the traditional tirade of the 'prepare to meet your end' stuff that seemed to spurt endlessly from every evil being. Hangovers have that effect on a man. The aforementioned Demon managed to regain some of the cool malice he had lost when Wolfwood had replied so flippantly. 'Ah, you would be Nicholas, then?' the samurai asked after a contemplative silence, a hand resting on sword expectantly. The priest faultered. His name wasn't something that he expected emerging from Demon's mouths... Unless... 'And who are you?' Wolfwood asked casually, ignoring his pounding head as he lit himself a cigerette, trying to keep his cool over the sudden panic that had risen even above his Hangover. 'I am known as Rai Dei the Blade.' The Demon introduced. Wolfwood stared at him stoically, eyebrow raised. 'Can't say I've heard of you before. Does that make me famous?' the priest asked, grinning. Rai Dei smiled back, albeit evilly. 'No. Just controversial. I must say that Wings and a Halo do not suit you, Chap-' 'Enough!' Wolfwood snapped. 'Don't say it!' He had just spent the past 4 years finally free of that name; be damned if he was going to live through that hell again. Rai Dei allowed a small knowing smirk to spread across his rough and unshaven face. In a long drawn out motion, sword left sheath and the Demon widened his stance. 'Then if the pleasantries are finished, I challenge you to Shiai.' he declared dramatically, holding out a slip paper with Japanese words written on it, then letting it fall to the ground. 'Fine by me.' Wolfwood replied waspishly, having no idea what Shiai
was, but agreeing to it anyway. If it was flower arranging, then he
would have the chance of getting out of this mess peacefully. If it
involved some sort of violence, which, let's face it, was more likely,
then that was even better. Wolfwood had some serious frustration to
vent. With a flick of the thumb, buckles snapped open and the Cross
Punisher was free from it's veil. Wolfwood didn't even bother waiting
for acknowledgement. Rai Dei the Blade, quick as he may be, had very
little time to shield himself from the barrage of bullets that came
flying his way. The Demon fought back surprise as he dove for cover
behind a bookcase, wood and paper flying in tatters as Wolfwood continued
to pummel the shelf with rounds from the Punisher. Without the acknowledgement
of the opponent and proper initiation of battle, this was simply not
a very Angelic way to start a fight. But then, Wolfwood was not a very
Angelic Angel. 'What the hell was that...' he managed, trying to peer past thick books to see what was going on. After a fraction of a second of thought, Machine gun closed and Launcher snapped open. Pressing the butt of the Punisher against the wall for support, the Winger let fly a missile that collided with the shelf in front of him. It was blown forward from the impact and into the second shelf. Which fell to the third. The fourth followed. After the chain reaction of rather destructive collapses finally came to a halt, Wolfwood straightened to survey the damage. It was now a very messy, dusty library that had a quite a bit of it on fire. With no Demon. 'I would expect nothing less from you.' a voice noted from the priest's
left. Wolfwood turned in time to see Rai Dei jump over a fallen shelf
and unleash yet another shock wave from his blade. Too late to evade.
'I am impressed.' Rai Dei admitted from somewhere behind the thick cloud of dust. Wolfwood nearly swore out loud. Good for bloody you. his mind snarled, reeling as possibilities were thrown up then dismissed in an effort for survival. Another shockwave came hurtling from the dust, barely missing the Angel as he dived to the side. Okay, that wasn't normal. He shouldn't be able to see me in all this dust. Wolfwood thought frantically, leaping aside as a bookcase was severed in half by yet another attack. Even more dust was thrown into the already blinding cloud. Then it clicked. Wolfwood really did swear aloud this time, reaching up and snatching away his beakon burning Halo, glaring at it with pained intensity. Then he smiled.
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Rai Dei watched the glowing circle of a Halo waver slightly through the dust. The Angel must be reaching his limit by now, surely. The wall he had erected was most impressive to be able to withstand the attack, but he was obviously in no shape to pull a stunt like that again. The Demon smirked. Such pathetic creatures, Angels. Completely unarmed, with the exception of the two currently in the mansion, and totally burdened by their equally pathetic holiness. Of course their Halo's would glow when power was ignited. It was a weakness to be exploited, just like their petty inability to touch the living. These things were so easy for a Demon. It made you wonder why people thought Angels were superior. Fist clutched sword hilt tighter and Rai Dei advanced on the now motionless glow; a lighthouse of luminence. Chapel had probably collasped. No wonder, with the obvious amount of power he was expending. Finally, as the Demon closed the last couple of steps distance between them, the dust began to clear. The hazy silhouette of Chapel stood with his arms spread out, as if in expansive prayer. Rai Dei smirked again. You will see nothing but an abyss before spiritual awareness. he thought somewhat smugly, bringing his sword into attack position. As more of the veil cleared, the Demon found that Chapel's arms were strangely short... Eyes widened when they took in the fact that the Cross Punisher stood alone against a fallen bookshelf, Halo perched on top and burning brightly. The arms of the cross were open, revealing an arsenal of handguns. 2 were missing... 'Go with God's speed, friend.' Wolfwood whispered from behind. A single gunshot sounded.
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The Demon Rai Dei the Blade fell lifelessly to the ground and exploded into a cloud of black shadow; the ebony wisps evaporating quickly. Winger stood silently with gun still raised for a good deal of time. Only when the stench and chill of evil had left the room did Wolfwood slump to his knees. 'This job's killin' me.' he admitted aloud to the world in general, cigerette remarkably still hanging from his lips. He knelt there for a good few minutes, breathing steadily amidst the destruction around him, a random and singed page by his knee. Burning books was wrong. The priest wondered vaguely whether he would lose his Angelic position if anyone found out he had caused some books to burn. He then wondered if anyone would care. Eyes narrowed with pain turned to the two pistols in his hands, one still smoking from discharge. One bullet. He was lucky that the Punisher had 8 of these 6 shooters... He had only one rocket left and he was pretty sure the Machine gun was completely out. Damn. And Milly was still in danger. Sighing and dragging himself to his
feet, Wolfwood stumbled over to the Punisher, retrieved the rest of
the handguns in the containment rack and closed the arms of the cross.
Turning an indifferent glare to the still glowing Halo, the priest picked
it up and shook it several times. After a few faulty blinkings, the
circle finally faded and disappeared. 'I'm comin', honey.' Wolfwood muttered, slinging the huge weapon over his shoulder and making for the door he was originally heading to. His antics earlier had caused a bookshelf to bar the exit. Completely out of patience, Wolfwood raised his Punisher and blew the shelf, door and half the wall away with the last of his rockets. Stepping through the smouldering rubble, the priest took a quick survey of the scene and grimaced. Milly stood horrified in a corner of the nondescript room, hand over
mouth and looking incredibly pale. To her left a scientist was screaming
as he was mauled by two Vaults. The creatures were obviously too busy
fighting each other for the soul to really do any damage to the human.
Wolfwood blinked and counted again. Two Vaults? Without hesitation, Wolfwood dropped the Punisher and raised the two
guns in his hands. One of the Vaults screeched in rage as it's partner
was thrown against the opposite wall with several bullet holes dotting
it's frame. The forlorn looking beast slowly oozed outwards into a puddle,
quite obviously dead. It evaporated soon after. Some small part of Wolfwood's
mind wondered if he had just killed the human that had been converted,
but he resolutely pushed the thought from his head. Milly first, everyone
else later. 'Oh Mister, are you all right?' Milly asked worriedly, helping the terror shaken scientist to his feet. 'Are you sick?' Ah, Wolfwood thought with a strange cacophony of relief and worry, the Living can't see these things. The scientist pulled himself from her grip, shot one last horror filled gaze toward the now open and empty crate and ran out the room shouting all the way. Milly watched him go with acute bewilderment. She then turned her gaze to the hole in the wall. Compliments, of course, of one Nicholas D. Wolfwood. A very strange expression came over her face, then, taking a deep breath, she spoke. 'Mister Ghost, is that you?' she asked loudly, as if doing so would make it easier to hear her. Wolfwood nearly choked on his cigerette. Okay, how was he going to get out of this one?! Milly continued. 'I know you're there. I've had a feeling you've been with Sempai and me.' she said firmly. The priest grimaced. Answering her would do no good as she couldn't hear him; what did she expect him to do? 'Um... You can knock once for 'Yes' and twice for 'No' if you want.' the tall brunette offered. Again Wolfwood faultered. Of course. How very Millyish. Sighing at the extreme corniness of the situation, Wolfwood tapped once on the wall. Milly jumped. 'It really is a ghost!' she whimpered, cowering slightly. 'But- You told me to do it!' Wolfwood shouted in exasperation, having to remind himself that she couldn't hear a word of his rebuke. 'Will you hurt me?' Milly whispered, pulling out her stungun and aimed it at random points around the room. Wolfwood hurriedly knocked twice. That was the damn thing about this seance garbage. There wasn't all that much expression you could put into rapping your knuckles against something. That could've been a very sarcastic 'No' for all she knew. 'Oh. Are you going to help me?' came the next question. The priest tapped on the wall once, trying to make it sound reassuring. Relief flooded Milly's face, and Wolfwood found that the sight of it brought a smile to his own. 'So it was you on the Steamer!' Knock. 'Are you really a ghost?' ... Knock, knock. 'Really?... Are you an Angel?' asked an inquisitive Milly. Wolfwood near choked again. She did have a strange stratum of intelligence up there in her head, and be damned if he could figure it out. ...Knock. 'Do you have a harp?' ?!?! KNOCK, KNOCK. 'Oh... Ok, but all the pictures in Middle Big Sister's books have Angel's with harps...' ... 'Are you helping Sempai and me?' Knock, knock. 'What? Oh... Are you helping Sempai?' Knock, knock. 'That must mean you're helping me!' Knock. Milly giggled, clapping her hands together. 'Does Sempai have an Angel too?' she asked delightedly, stungun forgotten. Wolfwood knocked once again, but grimaced as he did so. Vash. He had forgotten about that spikey haired fool. They still had a long way to go before they could claim 'safety'. Milly appeared to be getting ready to rattle off another question, but Wolfwood hurriedly picked up splinter of wood and pointed it at the door. Milly jumped at the movement and cowered again. 'I ain't gonna hurt you!' Wolfwood exclaimed, waving his hands hurriedly. Milly whimpered again and the priest realized that a stake waving about in mid air frantically would actually be quite threatening. He quickly hid the stake behind his back. Then remembered that Milly could see through him. 'D-Do you want me to... Go with you?' she asked in a hushed voice. -Knock, knock, knock, knock- 'Um... That's once for yes and twice for no.' Milly reminded. ... KNOCK!!! 'O-Okay...' she agreed shakily, gathering herself together and stepping forward. Wolfwood stopped swearing to himself momentarily to point the wood down the hallway, trying to make the gesture look patiently insistent but not demonically evil. When the only expression outlet is the motion of a sadistic looking stake, this is quite a difficult thing to do. Regardless, Winger and Guard proceeded down the hallway in the general direction of what Meta-Kard confirmed was Vash the Stampede. It was a very reckless plan, but then, they didn't have any other.
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-----AUTHOR'S NOTES----- Lynda: Ack. Sorry it took so long. For some reason I couldn't get into FF.net. *shrugs** ^_^ \V/ Oh yes, you knew Milly would be the first one to pick up on the Angel thingie. I wonder how Vash and Meryl are doing? Um... That's all I've got to say about this chapter. **shrugs** Kuroneko: Mya? Lynda: Oh, I'm gettin' a new computer soon, so I might have to go without
writing this fic for a couple of days!! **GASP** Anyway, hope you enjoyed... Erm... Yeeeeess.... ¬_¬; I'll... Just go now... **runs away** |